Learning the Language of Love
by umi4ever
Summary: Izaya is mute and Shizuo is blind. Raira years. Eventual Shizaya.


Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara! or any of the schools mentioned in this fanfiction. The only OCs in this story are their parents.

Summary: Shizuo is blind and Izaya is mute. Raira years. Eventual Shizaya.

Just warning you, I'm only fourteen- so I'm not saying this is the best work. xD

Also warning you that this first chapter is just flashbacks. And it is sad- actually, a lot of the story is sad. So be prepard with tissues.

Izaya's POV:

_~Flashback~_

_~1995~_

"HI. MY. NAME. IS. KISHITANI SHINRA," an over-enthusiastic boy in a white polo and khaki shorts greets from the desk next to mine. "WHAT. IS. YOUR. NAME?" he asks, slowly moving his lips so that I can read his lips. I sigh with annoyance, but cover it up with a grin- which, as usual, turns out lopsided and funny-looking- making me look even more retarded then I already do. I write down what I have to say in my speech-notebook.

_[My name is Orihara Izaya. I love humans, cats, and Ootoroo. I can hear and see you just fine. I just can't talk.] _My handwriting is perfect from years of practice. I have an extra bookbag reserved for speaking- pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, and a spare notebook. You see, I was born a perfectly normal child- into a loving family. I was a vibrant, healthy, chubby little baby who liked to smile- too young to be self concious about how stupid I looked when I did. I was my parents' first born, so of course they showered me with love and attention. It's also probably important to mention that they were scholars- they started teaching me from early on. That was probably the reason they were so worried when I hadn't spoken once after the first two years of my life. I remember visiting the pediatrician. There were a lot of pictures on the wall- one of babies dressed up as flowers, one of a dog eating an ice cream cone- I liked that one especially. I really liked that pediatrician- he was kind to me, and when he found out he didn't treat me like I was some sob-story patient with a month to live- he recognized my condition and worked with it, but didn't cease to be my friend in the process. And that was really all it took to help me- a pediatrician. He told my parents that I had a severe mouth deformation. My jaws were really unstable and uneven, causing my mouth shape to be distorted. My tongue parted to one side as well, and my gums were crooked and puffy- which also caused my teeth to be crooked. Because of these deformities I wouldn't be able to speak. My parents were devastated. Have you ever heard of a mute Ivy League grad? Exactly. They immediately sent me to a deaf/mute-daycare, and eventually a deaf/mute-preschool. I really liked deaf/mute-school. I went to the Otsuka campus for the Tokyo Central School for the Deaf in Toshima. Everyone accepted me there, and I made friends quickly. My teacher's name was Ms. Sturluson. She was really sweet and she taught us sign-language. She was very pretty, and she was always smiling. What I really loved about her was that she always wore a black ribbon around her neck- as if she was hiding something there. I loved her because she was such a mystery to me. Come to think of it, she was probably my first crush, actually.

That ended soon, though. My parents, being the scholars they were, thought that no disability should keep their child from getting a proper education- at a well-known private school. I knew part of the reason was also that a lot of my mute friends went mute because they were traumatized, and might have been bad influences on me and ended up putting me at risk for making bad decisions- or have put me in danger. I was happy that my parents cared so much for my education and my safety, but I was also kind of scared. I didn't know what people would think of me. They might make fun of me, or not want to play with me like my mute friends did.

It wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, I got teased a lot during the first few months, and people were always calling me retarded- but eventually they just adapted to my disability.

It wasn't the kids that who teased me that I distasted the most though- or the kids who left me out of every game and looked at me with dsgust. It was the kids who looked at me with pure _pity_ and acted like I had two months to live. They talked real slow around me, moved their hands when they spoke, and acted liek I might break. It was pure humiliation. The worst part was that that was all they would do- they would treat me like I would break and focus on my disability, but make no attempt to actually be my friend or get to know who I really was.

And that is exactly what Kishitani Shinra seems like at first. One of _them. _Except he isn't. His eyes light up at my statement and he smiles the widest smile I have ever seen- I can swear his lips are going to split down the middle.

"You're mute? That's so cool- my friend Celty is mute!" he tells me, the smile never fading. My ugly mouth gapes at the statement and I quickly cover it up with my fingers so no one can see. I have never met someone in speaking-school that had a mute friend.

_[Really? That's awesome! Can I meet her?]_ I ask, eyes lit up with joy. _I might make a new mute friend for the first time in five years! And I might make a speaking friend for the first time in...ever!_

"Sure, just come over to my house after school, I'll introduce you guys! She's gonna be so excited that I made a mute friend," he cheers, literally bouncing up and down in his seat.

_I think...I might have just made a new friend._

* * *

><p>Shizuo's POV:<p>

_~Flasback~_

_~1995~_

"Shizuo, honey, we're so proud of you!" my mother cheers. I can feel her wrapping her arms around me. "You did such a good job- want me to read it to you?" she asks.

"Yes, Mommy," I tell her, happily. I feel her squeeze my nose playfully like she always does and I giggle.

"Alright- Listening and speaking- _that's the important stuff, honey- _Listens and responds appropriately- 4.0. Delivers clear and organized oral communications- 4.0. Effort- 4.0. Overall- 4.0. Doesn't that make Shizuo happy?" she asks cheerfully after reading off of my report card- no doubt smiling. I whisper a quite 'yes', blushing at all the attention I'm getting. "Alright, now the hard stuff- _Math: Orders and compares whole numbers to 10,000- 3.9. Identifies place value in numbers to 10,000- 4.0. Adds and subtracts with regrouping- 4.0. Rounds and estimates when solving problems- 4.0. Knows multiplication facts through10- 4.0. Multiplies and divides to solve problems- 4.0. Counts change and uses money to $10.00- 3.9. Compares, adds, and subtracts simple fractions- 4.0. Selects appropriate symbols & operations to solve problems- 4.0. Tells time in one, five, and fifteen minute intervals- 4.0. Chooses and uses appropriate units of measurement- 3.9. Identifies and describes geometric shapes- 4.0. Finds perimeter of a polygon- 3.8. Determines area and volume of solid figures- 3.8. Records outcomes using probability- 3.9. Organizes and interprets graphs and charts- 3.9. Explains clearly and logically solutions to problems- 4.0. Basic Facts- 4.0. Effort- 4.0 Performance Based Assessment- 4.0. __Overall- 4.0..._ Honey, do you know how great that is? 4.0 is the highest mark you can get!" she cheers, snuggling me closer. I nod my head and smile lightly, blushing from pride. "_Science: Understands and applies the concepts of physical, life, earth, and space science- 4.0. Thinks scientifically- 3.9. Conducts scientific investigations 4.0. Understands and uses scientific tools and technologies- 4.0. Communicates scientific information and processes- 4.0. Understands how developments in science and technology affect society and the environment- 4.0. Effort- 4.0. Overall- 4.0. Wow, honey~"_ she cooes. The small weight on my side shifts and I hear my brother yawning boredly. I can sense my mom reaching over me and petting his hair. "You got overall 4.0's in all your subjects, sweetie. Do I have to read every little detail?" she asks.

"No," I tell her blandly, not really caring. I feel a tiny hand pull on my arm.

"Shizuo's smart~" my brother says, giggling. I smile at my brother and pull him into a hug.

"You're smart, too, Kasuka," I tell him, kissing his precious little forehead...

I wasn't always like this.

It all happened when I was two. My mom was driving me to some sports game...I think it was soccer, but I can barely remember it now. I remember we were going to be late- so my mom was probably driving a little over the speed limit. In the car in front of us a young man was in a rush to get to his girlfriend's house and take care of their illegitimate child. He was in such a rush that he ceased to notice that his gas tank was empty. His car slowed down and came to a hault in the middle of the road, and the next thing I remember I was waking up in complete darkness. I started crying out for help and soon heard my mom come running in and felt her arms wrap around me. She was fine, but I've been in the dark ever since. They told me I would never be able to see again. I asked why, but no one would tell me. Eventually I found out that my small body had been completely lifted by the force. Evidently my forehead and upper face had smashed into the window with so much force that it had traumatized me. I'm not entirely sure how, but my eyes developed cataracts as a result. A cataract is a clouding that develops on the lens of the eye and blocks light from passing through. The cataracts I developed were completely opague- blinding me...

When I'm lying in bed awake that night -the sound of my younger brother's light snoring ringing in my ears like a soft lullaby- I get thirsty and wander into the kitchen to get a drink. After I carefully pour myself a glass of milk and walk back up the stairs, my sensitive ears pick up on my parents nightly pillow-talk. Now, I'm not usually one to eavesdrop, but I can hear my name mentioned in a hushed tone several times. I put my milk down on the washing machine- careful not to spill it or create too much noise- and tip-toe up to my parents room, pressing my ear to the door.

"I know he's smart, but that doesn't mean he's like everybody else! He's getting a fine education at Met!Bunkyō, and he has friends there that can understand him better then anyone else can," my mother argues with my father. You see, I go to a school for the blind called the Tokyo Metropolitan Bunkyō school for the Blind. What they're arguing over is a very familiar debate to me- continue going to Met!Bunkyō, or go to a seeing-school. My mother's arguement was that I was going to get made fun of- which I understood completely. I could just think of all the ways I could get teased- kids making faces at me, asking me what they thought of how something physically looked just to tease me, making wisecracks about blind people to their friends and being intentionally loud so that I would hear it. But I didn't agree with the arguement that I had friends who could understand me better then anyone else can. They didn't understand _me _better- they understood my disability. Although it was a big part of me, being blind wasn't who I was. It was just something I had to deal with. Sure, they could understand my struggles and the battles I had to fight every day to lead a normal life- but they didn't understand _me. _That's why I haven't ever been very social with blind people. Let me put it this way; would you befriend someone just because you were both seeing? Exactly. I would rather base my friends around personality. That's why I've never been especially close to anyone except my brother. Everyone else is so freaking annoying! And a lot of the people out there are just total morons.

My father always thought I would be better off at a seeing school. His arguement was that I should be aloud a better education- at a well-known private school.

"Do you know how many dumbass rich kids go to amazing schools in Japan every day? And you're trying to keep my amazing son from that kind of an education because he has a disability? Where's the justice in that?" he asks my mother angrily. I can hear her take a shaky breath.

"I just don't think the other kids would treat him fairly, and I don't want him getting any special attention from teachers, either!" she whisper-yells, no doubt through tears.

"Well, to a certain extent he's going to need some extra attention- you know that. I'm not denying the fact that he has a disability, I'm just trying to give him a life that doesn't revolve around it and remind him of it every single time he gets on the school-bus. And isn't it about time he made some friends? Some _real_ friends that he likes for who they are and not for the fact that they're blind!" And that was my father's second arguement. He could see the fact that I didn't have any friends at this school- the fact that there was no one in this school who shared the same interests as me or really even liked me. They were all nice at first, they knew they shared the 'gift of blindness' with me- and that was enough to make friends off of at this school. But sooner or later they realized that the blindness didn't matter- everyone they met at school was blind. Eventually they could all see past the blindness in me- and once they saw who I really was

-besides the fact that I was blind- they suddenly lost all interest in being my friend. I knew I would never make a blind friend.

"I guess I understand what you're saying," my mother tells him with a sniff and a sigh. "I just...don't think he's ready yet," she argues, sniffling. I hear her blow her nose.

"Maybe in a few years," my father tells her. I assume she nods in response. A few seconds later I hear them kiss and move onto another subject- something about politics. I grab my milk and walk back into my bedroom, where I gulp it down and crawl into bed. I lay awake in bed, thinking about how wonderful it will be when I finally get to go to a seeing-school. It's so exciting to think about- yet so scary at the same time. When I finally fall asleep, I dream about what a seeing-school would really be like.

_...soon..._ I mumble in my sleep, a smile on my face.

* * *

><p>There's the backgrounds to our characters. ^.^ Hope you all enjoy what's to come.~<p>

I'm sorry if some of the facts about blidness/muteness or blind/deaf schools aren't 100%. I did do a lot of research on deaf schools/blind schools in Tokyo and tried to have Shizuo and Izaya go to the closest ones possible.

Please review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Also- I know it's a bit OOC but you have to consider the fact that it _is_ an AU, they're blind/mute, were raised differently because of their disabilites, have adapted to these disabilities, and _are _only nine at the time, after all.

Thanks for reading~

~SoRenChan~


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